The head of a British-based Saudi opposition group laughed off the US government freezing his organisation's assets, saying on Friday he had no assets and no links to al Qaeda.
The US government froze the assets of the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) on Thursday and said the group's head, Saad al-Fagih, was on the UN list of people associated with al Qaeda and the Taleban.
Stuart Levey, US Treasury Under-secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said Fagih also used MIRA to provide al Qaeda with recruits and public relations help.
Fagih, an exiled Saudi dissident, denied the allegations and said Washington was targeting him because of the threat he and his organisation posed to the Saudi government, a US ally.
He said MIRA aimed to topple the Saudi monarchy by peaceful means.
"First of all there are no assets to be frozen. It's very much a symbolic decision," Fagih told Reuters.
"Those justifications are rubbish. I am telling the American government to prove that our Web site is being used by al Qaeda or that I am their spokesman ... I am surprised that what is supposed to be a respectable superpower speaks at the same level as a tyrannical government in the Middle East."
UN Security Council members last year agreed to impose sanctions against Fagih, who lives in London, over alleged links to al Qaeda.
British authorities have been on the defensive about granting asylum to Middle East dissidents after bombings in London last week that killed at least 54 people.
Comments
Comments are closed.